Many conventional computing devices such as computers, tablets, game consoles, televisions, monitors, phones, etc., include a touchscreen. A touchscreen enables a user to interact directly with displayed objects on the touchscreen by touching the objects with a hand, finger, stylus, or other item. Such displayed objects may include controls that control functions on a phone. Using the touchscreen, the user can activate controls by touching corresponding objects on the touchscreen. For example, the user can touch an object such as a button on the touchscreen to activate a voice recognition application on the phone. The user can touch the touchscreen and swipe up and down to scroll a page up and down on the touchscreen.
The touchscreen display is typically controlled by a processor to dim or darken the screen after a brief period of time since the last touch in order to save power. For example, 10 seconds after the user has last touched the screen the screen may be dimmed or darkened completely. The display/touchscreen and other functionality of the phone can be turned off or put into a “hibernate” or “sleep” mode that uses less power. If the phone goes into a sleep mode, the user can “awaken” or fully activate the phone again by, for example, touching a button on the touchscreen or elsewhere on the device, or by performing a different action to reactivate the phone from sleep mode.
The various displayed objects on the touchscreen may be changed frequently as different application controls, operating system features, or other functions are provided to a user. So, for example, a set of controls may be displayed until the user selects a control. Then a new set of controls or a new page of information may be displayed so that the originally-displayed set of controls is no longer visible.
One embodiment provides a method comprising: checking if a finger is within a predetermined distance from a display screen of a phone prior to the phone initiating one or more predetermined actions; and preventing an initiation of the one or more predetermined actions if the finger is within the predetermined distance.